When Richard Vaughn was at Loyola University of Chicago studying reproductive and fertility law, he wrote a report about a case in Tennessee where a divorcing couple was fighting over their frozen embryos. It was very interesting to him at the time, but in no way had he realized that a few pages of paper could change the course of his life. Well, it did. It goes like this: The potential “baby’s mama” and daddy wanted the embryos to have a child, but when the marriage fell apart papa got a brand new bag and changed his mind about sharing a child with his soon to be ex-wife. The court ruled that they couldn’t address the issue of the embryo like they would property law. It wasn’t about a couch, it was about a child and the unborn kid’s genetic contributor (potential daddy) couldn’t be forced into parenthood with a woman he no longer loved. Case closed. Did Rich agree? Yes, he did.

Fast forward a bit. Rich moves to Los Angeles and works as in-house council at a start up medical device company. Given his medical background, Rich also serves as a Senior Vice President of sales and marketing. His feet get wet and that’s more than OK with him. Around this time, Rich and his partner decide they want to start a family. Adoption wasn’t the route they wanted to take, so they chose surrogacy instead. They began doing their research and retained the firm, National Fertility Law Center, to start the process. Rich sees his life changing. He starts thinking about the direction of his career. “I wanted to enjoy whatever I did next. I don’t know how it came to me, but I thought about that paper that I did in law school and thought that my whole life was about to change. Once I did have children, my life would be about family and what better thing to do than take a job that involves family and helping people build families.”

So, he called one of the founding partners of National Fertility Law Center, Willard K. Halm, and discussed the possible transition. Rich’s personal connection to surrogacy and the entire egg donation process was undeniable. Rich and his partner, Thomas Woelfel, are only a few short months away from welcoming twin baby boys into their loving home. You could say this job was his calling. Rich now dedicates himself to supporting the National Fertility Law Center in providing legal assistance to clients who share the innate desire to start their own families.

HW: “What are the advantages of having a national fertility law firm?”

ATTORNEY RICHARD VAUGHN: “As the industry grows, you are finding a lot of people being matched across state lines. When I say “matched”, I mean a match between intended parents and a surrogate, or perhaps intended parents and a donor – egg donor, sperm donor, whatever the case may be. Each state has its own rules and processes and guidelines for how you deal with establishing parental rights for intended parents. Most states have no statutes on point, and many states do not have case law on point, so the practice does vary from state to state. Agencies that match intended parents with surrogates or donors are reaching out across state lines and finding surrogates across the nation. Intended parents are also from all over, so when you confirm their parental rights through court proceedings, you have to know the local law – the law where the surrogate is giving birth. For all the growing number of cases that were outside of California, we were referring them out to local attorneys. We were seeing a trend in the growth of the business across the country, so we developed a business model that we thought would work and we’ve proven we’re right about that. Now, National Fertility Law Center is the one place, the one resource that people can go to for information on fertility laws across the country.”

HW: “So these attorneys in other states are under the umbrella of the National Fertility Law Center?”

ATTY. VAUGHN: “Right, we have basically worked with a lot of attorneys in other states for a long time. We’ve now formally affiliated with many of these attorneys across the country, so that we can work together when we have clients who require their council. That way, our clients don’t have to worry about getting a referral to local counsel in each state they are considering. We already have the affiliated network set up.”

HW: “That’s incredible. And you’re the only national law firm of your kind?”

ATTY. VAUGHN: “As far as I know, we are the only ones. We have twenty-seven states covered. I don’t know anyone that has that kind of an outreach.”

HW: “Okay, final word: “Baby Mama,” the movie.

ATTY. VAUGHN: “Funny, but not a completely realistic experience for our clients.”

HW: “Thank God for that.”

800.558.4009   Fertility Lawyer, Richard Vaughn